The President's statements to OTE TV
One of the owners of Olympiacos BC, Mr. Panagiotis Angelopoulos, spoke for the OTE TV camera a little before the jump ball of the game against Panionios.
His statements:
Mr. Angelopoulos is holding something in his hands. Would you like to tell us what it is?
"A fan gave it to me. It's a gift from Istanbul, from a fan who has never missed a Final Four".
Mr. Angelopoulos, you experienced some great moments on Thursday, isn't it so?
"We have said that before, let's say it once again for the people that listen to us on OTE TV, one of our main sponsors, we are the most successful team in Europe comparing participations, finals and titles won, this is only obvious and we are going to Madrid to fight"
A lot has been said, about the rosters, the budgets, but Olympiacos is walking its own way, has paved a path and walks on it. Is this path "sweeter" according to your opinion?
"The thing about rosters and budgets is how you evaluate a player or what it is that other clubs pay for some players to go and play either in Russia or in Turkey. Perception varies. We make our evaluations taking into account the chemistry, the coaches and players that have been with us from the beginning of our successful course, the five Greeks, Spanoulis, Printezis, Mantzaris, Sloukas and Katsivelis who transfer the spirit of this team to the foreign players that join us. The fact that we fight to the end and we never give up".
The fans completely packed the gym in the two games against Barcelona. The same will be the case in Madrid from the Olympiacos fans…
"No, it will not be the same. We need to be realistic. We have 780 tickets available, another 100 of our fans have bought tickets online having put their faith on the team early on. In Madrid, 70% of the fans are going to be for Real Madrid. It's the first time in eight years I think that the team of the hosting city qualifies. The majority of the fans are going to be Spaniards. We are going to have a maximum of 1000 Olympiacos fans with us. The 780 tickets we got as a Club and 100 fans that have believed in the team from the beginning".
We guess that there are going to be efforts for more tickets though?
"There are going to be efforts, but it's not like in previous years when we had succeeded in obtaining more tickets. Like in Istanbul and in London. It's the way the tickets are dispensed, Euroleague wants the gym to be full. You secure a full gym when you sell the tickets throughout the season. Those who look for a ticket now should know that we are going to try but it's not possible to meet with the full demand. I wish we had 2000 tickets for Madrid, but we don't. There's nothing we can do…"